JBL made a short film set within its branded world on Roblox

As most millennial parents and Gen Z older siblings know, Roblox worlds are a fun but strange place to the kids who immerse themselves in it. From the creation of new and outlandish worlds to crazy emerging styles, imagination runs wild on the platform, and the possibilities for what you might see are nearly endless. Well, that’s exactly the vibe exuded from JBL’s new Roblox campaign, consisting of a three-part film totaling 23 minutes set in its own in-game world, JBL Land. Created by social media agency GoSpooky in partnership with popular Roblox creator Robuilds, “The JBL Land Movie” launched part one on Tuesday starring Robuilds as she falls from the sky into JBL Land and meets different characters with different sound styles. As she journeys through the land, she encounters “soundbytes,” which are meant to be fed into a Grand Jukebox to develop her own sound identity. In the movie, Robuilds searches for her own sound so she can play it out loud on the Grand Jukebox for all the land to hear. However, those soundbytes are all random and incongruous with each other, and Robuilds struggles to create something that expresses who she is. So, she relies on the help of strangers she meets along the way to find more soundbytes. The first part of the film concludes as she and a friend journey off through the land to explore more sounds for better self-expression. Parts 2 and 3 are set to follow on March 27 and April 2, respectively. Scripted and directed by Robuilds, the movie follows JBL’s creation of a branded Roblox world launched on Feb. 21. Its format follows a trend among Roblox users of creating self-made films. Robuilds herself, for instance, amassed more than 1 million views on YouTube for her own self-made Roblox movie, “The Silent Screams of Bloxburg,” posted in October for Halloween. Other Roblox creators, such as DaPandaGirl have also generated hundreds of thousands of views through Roblox movies. It’s a trend that, while still largely untapped by brands, presents “high-reward propositions,” said Anirudh Shiva, creative lead at GoSpooky. “[Roblox movies] challenge prevailing assumptions about fleeting audience attention spans by telling great stories that people can immerse themselves in. With ‘The JBL Land Movie,’ we’re tapping into both a creator and audience’s quest for self-expression on the platform. There’s a phenomenal opportunity for brands that get the medium right.” The aim of this particular campaign is “to boost brand awareness and engagement for JBL among the Gen Z demographic,” Tim van der Wiel, founder of GoSpooky, told Ad Age, adding that the brand is monitoring those metrics across various social media platforms and on Roblox by looking at average playtime and player retention within the experience. To create the film, JBL and GoSpooky used Roblox’s Free Cam features to capture dynamic zooms, close-ups and experimental angles to give a cinematic experience that stays true to the platform’s nature. While Robuilds plays the lead, she and JBL invited four of her biggest fans from Discord to play supporting characters. “The JBL Land Movie” will be released in three segments on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. “While young filmmakers are amassing millions of followers with self-made movies on Roblox, marketers have yet to follow suit. JBL is proud to produce the first brand movie in Roblox,” said Daniel Lee, chief marketing officer at JBL. “We are delighted to work with Robuilds as the film director; she is a prominent voice on Roblox, and she breathes our brand ethos of self-expression as she creates her unique journey finding her own sound identity.”

JBL made a short film set within its branded world on Roblox

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